Ballot Results No Predictor of House Marriage Vote

A quarter of Minnesota House members wound up voting a personal preference on legalizing gay marriage rather than following results of last November's ballot measure to ban it.

Thursday's 75-59 vote in favor of a bill to permit same-sex marriage saw Republicans and Democrats defy the fall outcome on the constitutional amendment in their district.

Eighteen Republicans from districts where a majority opposed barring gay marriage voted to keep marriage as exclusively for one man and one woman. Plymouth Rep. Sarah Anderson represents the heartiest anti-amendment district for a Republican opposed to legalized same-sex marriage.

Fifteen Democrats bucked the home tide by supporting gay marriage while representing districts that clearly opposed it. Murdock Rep. Andrew Falk had the starkest difference between his vote Thursday and his district's vote last fall.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)